Tantalum-containing material removal

ABSTRACT

Methods are described herein for etching tantalum-containing films with various potential additives while still retaining other desirable patterned substrate portions. The methods include exposing a tantalum-containing film to a chlorine-containing precursor (e.g. Cl2) with a concurrent plasma. The plasma-excited chlorine-containing precursor selectively etches the tantalum-containing film and other industrially-desirable additives. Chlorine is then removed from the substrate processing region. A hydrogen-containing precursor (e.g. H2) is delivered to the substrate processing region (also with plasma excitation) to produce a relatively even and residue-free tantalum-containing surface. The methods presented remove tantalum while retaining materials elsewhere on the patterned substrate.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Prov. Pat. App. No. 62/529,976 filed Jul. 7, 2017, and titled “TANTALUM-CONTAINING MATERIAL REMOVAL” by Wang et al. The disclosure of 62/529,976 is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes.

FIELD

Embodiments disclosed herein relate to gas-phase etching tantalum-containing materials.

BACKGROUND

Integrated circuits are made possible by processes which produce intricately patterned material layers on substrate surfaces. Producing patterned material on a substrate requires controlled methods for removal of exposed material. Chemical etching is used for a variety of purposes including transferring a pattern in photoresist into underlying layers, thinning layers or thinning lateral dimensions of features already present on the surface. Often it is desirable to have an etch process which etches one material faster than another helping e.g. a pattern transfer process proceed. Such an etch process is said to be selective to the first material. As a result of the diversity of materials, circuits and processes, etch processes have been developed with a selectivity towards a variety of materials.

Dry etch processes are often desirable for selectively removing material from semiconductor substrates. The desirability stems from the ability to gently remove material from miniature structures with minimal physical disturbance. Dry etch processes also allow the etch rate to be abruptly stopped by removing the gas phase reagents. Some dry-etch processes involve the exposure of a substrate to remote plasma by-products formed from one or more precursors. For example, remote plasma excitation of ammonia and nitrogen trifluoride enables silicon oxide to be selectively removed from a patterned substrate when the plasma effluents are flowed into the substrate processing region. Remote plasma etch processes have recently been developed to selectively remove several dielectrics relative to one another. However, dry-etch processes are still needed, which delicately yet quickly remove metals which have limited or no previously known chemically volatile pathways.

SUMMARY

Methods are described herein for etching tantalum-containing films having various potential additives while still retaining other desirable patterned substrate portions. The methods include exposing a tantalum-containing film to a chlorine-containing precursor (e.g. Cl₂) with a concurrent plasma. The plasma-excited chlorine-containing precursor selectively etches the tantalum-containing film which may include other industrially-desirable additives. Chlorine is then removed from the substrate processing region. A hydrogen-containing precursor (e.g. H₂) is delivered to the substrate processing region (also with plasma excitation) to produce a relatively even and residue-free post-etch tantalum-containing surface. The methods presented remove tantalum while retaining the other exposed materials. The sequential exposure to chlorine-containing precursor and then hydrogen-containing precursor was found achieve a smooth residue-free tantalum-containing surface. A thin tantalum oxide layer may be initially present on the surface of the tantalum-containing layer, in which case a local hydrogen plasma may be used to reduce or remove the tantalum oxide prior to the exposure to the chlorine-containing precursor. All the recited steps may be performed in the same substrate processing chamber in some cases.

Exemplary processes described herein include methods of removing tantalum-containing films. The methods include placing the substrate into a substrate processing region. The substrate includes exposed tantalum-containing material. The methods further include etching the tantalum-containing material by flowing a halogen-containing precursor into the substrate processing region while forming a halogen local plasma from the halogen-containing precursor and forming halogen-containing plasma effluents. Etching the tantalum-containing material further includes accelerating the halogen-containing plasma effluents towards the substrate by biasing the halogen local plasma relative to the substrate. Etching the tantalum-containing material leaves a residue on a remaining portion of the substrate. The methods further include removing the residue from the remaining portion of the substrate by flowing a hydrogen-containing precursor into the (same) substrate processing region while forming a hydrogen local plasma from the hydrogen-containing precursor to form hydrogen-containing plasma effluents. The methods further include flowing of the hydrogen-containing precursor occurs after flowing the halogen-containing precursor. The methods further include removing the substrate from the substrate processing region. The tantalum-containing material may further include silicon, carbon, and aluminum. A temperature of the substrate while removing the tantalum-containing material may be between 80° C. and 450° C. while removing tantalum-containing material from the substrate. The substrate may be maintained at a same substrate temperature while etching the tantalum-containing material and removing the residue.

The present technology may also encompass additional methods of etching tantalum-containing material from a substrate. The additional methods include placing the substrate into a first substrate processing region. The substrate includes tantalum-containing material and an overlying tantalum oxide. The methods further include reducing the overlying tantalum oxide and exposing the tantalum-containing material by flowing a hydrogen-containing precursor into a first substrate processing region housing the substrate while forming a hydrogen plasma in the first substrate processing region. The methods further include placing the substrate into a second substrate processing region. The methods further include etching the tantalum-containing material by flowing a halogen-containing precursor into the second substrate processing region while forming a local halogen plasma from the halogen-containing precursor to form halogen-containing plasma effluents. Forming the local halogen plasma further includes accelerating the halogen-containing plasma effluents towards the substrate by biasing the local halogen plasma relative to the substrate. The methods further include flowing a hydrogen-containing precursor into the second substrate processing region while forming a second hydrogen plasma in the second substrate processing region. Flowing of the hydrogen-containing precursor occurs after flowing the halogen-containing precursor. The methods further include removing the substrate from the second substrate processing region. a temperature of the substrate while removing the tantalum-containing material is between 175° C. and 275° C. while removing tantalum-containing material from the substrate.

In some embodiments, the tantalum-containing material may have at least 40% atomic percent tantalum. The tantalum-containing material may have at least 50% atomic percent tantalum. The tantalum-containing material includes tantalum, silicon, carbon and aluminum. The hydrogen-containing precursor may include Hz. The halogen-containing precursor may include at least one of chlorine or bromine. The halogen-containing precursor may be a homonuclear diatomic halogen. The first substrate processing region and the second substrate processing region are the same substrate processing region. A pressure within the first substrate processing region and the second substrate processing region may be between 0.01 Torr and 10 Torr during one or more of flowing the hydrogen-containing precursor, flowing the halogen-containing precursor or flowing the hydrogen-containing precursor. Forming the hydrogen plasma may include applying a local capacitive plasma RF power between a showerhead and the substrate. A processing temperature of the substrate may be greater than 80° C. during the etching of the tantalum-containing material.

The present technology may also encompass additional methods of etching tantalum-containing material from a substrate. The additional methods include etching tantalum-containing material and tantalum oxide. The additional methods include transferring a substrate into a substrate processing region. The substrate includes tantalum-containing material and a thin tantalum oxide layer thereon. The methods further include removing the thin tantalum oxide layer by flowing a hydrogen-containing precursor into the substrate processing region while forming a local plasma from the hydrogen-containing precursor. The methods further include etching the tantalum-containing material by flowing a chlorine-containing precursor into the substrate processing region while forming a chlorine plasma from the chlorine-containing precursor to form chlorine-containing plasma effluents. Etching the tantalum-containing material occurs after removing the thin tantalum oxide layer. The methods further include removing any unreacted chlorine-containing precursor and other process effluents by purging the substrate processing region with an inert gas. Etching the tantalum-containing material leaves a residue on a post-etch surface. The methods further include removing the residue from the post-etch surface by flowing a second hydrogen-containing precursor into the substrate processing region while forming a second local plasma from the second hydrogen-containing precursor. The methods further include transferring the substrate out of the substrate processing region. Forming a chlorine plasma may include accelerating the chlorine-containing plasma effluents towards the substrate by biasing the chlorine plasma relative to the substrate. The substrate may be maintained at a same substrate temperature during the removal of the thin tantalum oxide layer and the removal of the tantalum-containing material. The substrate may remain inside the same substrate processing region throughout the method.

Additional embodiments and features are set forth in part in the description that follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the specification or may be learned by the practice of the embodiments. The features and advantages of the embodiments may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities, combinations, and methods described in the specification.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the embodiments may be realized by reference to the remaining portions of the specification and the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a tantalum-containing film etch process according to embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a tantalum-containing film etch process according to embodiments.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a substrate processing chamber according to the disclosed technology.

FIG. 4 shows a top plan view of an exemplary substrate processing system according to the disclosed technology.

In the appended figures, similar components and/or features may have the same reference label. Further, various components of the same type may be distinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a letter that distinguishes among the similar components. If only the reference label is used in the specification, the description is applicable to any one of the similar components having the same reference label irrespective of the letter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Methods are described herein for etching tantalum-containing films having various potential additives while still retaining other desirable patterned substrate portions. The methods include exposing a tantalum-containing film to a chlorine-containing precursor (e.g. Cl₂) with a concurrent plasma. The plasma-excited chlorine-containing precursor selectively etches the tantalum-containing film which may include other industrially-desirable additives. Chlorine is then removed from the substrate processing region. A hydrogen-containing precursor (e.g. H₂) is delivered to the substrate processing region (also with plasma excitation) to remove chlorine-containing residue and produce a relatively even and residue-free post-etch tantalum-containing surface. The methods presented remove tantalum while retaining the other exposed materials. The sequential exposure to chlorine-containing precursor and then hydrogen-containing precursor was found achieve a smooth residue-free tantalum-containing surface. A thin tantalum oxide layer may be initially present on the surface of the tantalum-containing layer, in which case a local hydrogen plasma may be used to reduce or remove the tantalum oxide prior to the exposure to the chlorine-containing precursor. All the recited steps may be performed in the same substrate processing chamber in some cases.

In order to better understand and appreciate the embodiments disclosed herein, reference is now made to FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a tantalum-containing material etch process 1001 according to embodiments. Benefits of the processes described herein include a uniform post-etch tantalum-containing surface while also achieving a high removal rate. A further benefit of the tantalum-containing material etch processes described herein results from using the same substrate processing region for both the pretreatment, chlorination and post-treatment operations. The benefits resulting from these methods include much higher throughput resulting from reduced wafer handling and high etch rate. The higher throughput garners a lower cost-of-ownership resulting from the greater throughput and the reduced square footage required to house the various substrate processing chambers.

The substrate is placed into a first substrate processing region in operation 1010. The substrate has portions of tantalum-containing film and tantalum oxide. Hydrogen (H₂) is flowed into the first substrate processing region in operation 1020. A plasma is ignited in the first substrate processing region to react plasma effluents with the substrate. The plasma effluents react with the tantalum oxide in operation 1030. The tantalum oxide is reduced or removed from atop the tantalum-containing film in the process. The substrate is transferred into a second substrate processing region in operation 1040. In embodiments, no substrate transfer is necessary because the same substrate processing region may be used for all etch operations described herein. Chlorine (Cl₂) is flowed into the second substrate processing region to etch the tantalum-containing film in operation 1050 during which a biased local plasma is formed from the chlorine in the second substrate processing region. The plasma bias directs ionized species in the plasma effluents toward the substrate. The bias-accelerated chlorine plasma effluents remove near-surface portions of the tantalum-containing film and even out the chlorine reactions across the substrate. The substrate is then exposed to a hydrogen-containing precursor excited within a biased local plasma to remove any non-volatile etch by-products from atop the tantalum-containing film in operation 1060. Biasing the local hydrogen plasma is optional for both hydrogen operations 1060 and 1020/1030. The substrate is then removed from the second substrate processing region in operation 1070.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a tantalum-containing material etch process 2001 according to embodiments. In this example, the tantalum-containing material comprises tantalum, silicon, carbon, and aluminum. The tantalum-containing material may consist of tantalum, silicon, carbon, and aluminum according to embodiments. Benefits of the processes represented in FIG. 2 also include a uniform tantalum-silicon-carbon-aluminum surface after processing, low wafer handling overhead, and a rapid etch rate. The substrate is placed into a substrate processing region in operation 2010. All of the operations occur in the same substrate processing region in embodiments. The substrate has portions of the tantalum-containing film and an oxide layer potentially overlying the tantalum-containing film in embodiments. The oxide layer may comprise tantalum and oxygen according to embodiments. Hydrogen (H₂) is flowed into the substrate processing region in operation 2020. Operation 2020 is optional and used if an oxide layer is present on the tantalum-containing film. An absence of atmospheric exposure in advanced wafer handling configurations could conceivably result in an absence of any overlying oxide layer according to embodiments. If the oxide layer is present, a plasma is ignited in the first substrate processing region to react plasma effluents with the substrate. The plasma effluents may react with the oxide layer in (optional) operation 2030. Operation 2030 may include an optional bias plasma power as before. The oxide layer is reduced and/or removed from atop the tantalum-containing film in the process and exposes the tantalum-containing film.

The substrate may then remain in the same substrate processing region or may be transferred to another substrate processing region for the chlorine operation. Chlorine (Cl₂) is flowed into the substrate processing region in operation 2040. Also in operation 2040, a local plasma is formed from the chlorine in the substrate processing region. A bias may be applied to the local plasma to further direct ionized species in the plasma effluents toward the substrate. The chlorine plasma effluents etch the tantalum-containing film and produce a relatively even post-etch surface. Exposure of the tantalum-containing material to the chlorine-containing plasma effluents is thought to form volatile chlorine-containing complexes on the surface including as the etch proceeds. The volatile chlorine-containing complexes desorb readily at the conditions described herein without any stimulation other than the energy from the adsorption reaction and the temperature of the substrate. The volatile chlorine-containing complexes may include TaCl₅, SiCl₄, CCl_((x)), and AlCl₃ according to embodiments. The carbon complexes (CCl or CCl_(x)) may be less volatile and so may be removed with the assistance of operations 2020-2030 as well as 2050 to be described shortly (e.g. in the hydrogen operations before or following operation 2040). Fluorine-containing precursors were not found to be effective in removing the tantalum-containing film because some of the fluorine-containing complexes were not volatile, and deleteriously remained on the surface as a consequence. The chlorine-containing plasma effluents were found, fortuitously, to produce volatile chlorine-containing complexes from each of the industrially relevant complexes formed from tantalum, silicon, aluminum and carbon. The removal rate of each of the elemental components (Ta, Si, C, and Al) of the tantalum-containing film was also found to be high enough for industrial applications. The hafnium chloride complexes are inferred to be beneficially nonvolatile and allow the retention of exposed gate material while each of tantalum, silicon, carbon, and aluminum are readily removed from exposed tantalum-containing material. At the conclusion of operation 2040, some chlorine residue may remain on the surface of the tantalum-containing material.

The substrate is not transferred out of the substrate processing region between operations 2040 and 2050 in embodiments. The substrate may remain in the same placement for operation 2050 according to embodiments. The substrate is then exposed to a hydrogen-containing precursor (also excited in a local plasma) to remove any non-volatile post-etch residues which remain atop the tantalum-containing film in operation 2050. The hydrogen plasma of operation 2050 may be biased in embodiments. Operations 2040 and 2050 may be repeated as a sequence (see dashed line) to remove additional material but may both be carried out in the same substrate processing chamber so transfer overhead does not slow down the throughput. The substrate may then be removed from the substrate processing region in operation 2060 once a target amount of exposed tantalum-containing film has been removed. Optional operation 2020 and operation 2050 each involve exposing the substrate to a plasma-excited hydrogen-containing precursor. Either or both of these operations may provide the further benefit of removing carbon from the tantalum-silicon-carbon-aluminum material. The additional carbon removal mechanism helps maintain a high etch rate since the carbon chlorides were found to be somewhat less volatile compared to the chlorides of tantalum, silicon, and aluminum.

The etch process has been found to not etch or not significantly remove hafnium oxide (HfO₂), silicon oxide (SiO₂) and tungsten (W) which is beneficial to several process flows according to embodiments. Hafnium chloride complexes and tungsten chloride complexes may be nonvolatile and remain on the surface of the patterned substrate under the conditions described herein. The ability to simultaneously remove tantalum, silicon, carbon, and aluminum contrasts sharply with the inability to remove hafnium oxide, silicon oxide or tungsten and enables the processes described and claimed herein. The etch processes described herein have been found to also etch titanium nitride in addition to etching the tantalum-silicon-carbon-aluminum, which fortuitously enables removal of a lining layer combined on the border of the tantalum-containing films described herein. Titanium chloride complexes may be volatile, in embodiments, within the process conditions described herein.

Additional aspects of the processes described herein will be presented before and during the description of exemplary substrate processing hardware. Other sources of hydrogen may be used to augment or replace the molecular hydrogen used to reduce the tantalum oxide and expose the tantalum-containing film. In general, a hydrogen-containing precursor may be flowed into the substrate processing region and the hydrogen-containing precursor may be oxygen-free and/or carbon-free according to embodiments. The hydrogen plasma effluents may be formed in a local plasma and react with the substrate to reduce, etch or remove the tantalum oxide from atop the tantalum-containing film in embodiments. The tantalum-containing film may be oxygen-free. Exposure of the substrate to the hydrogen plasma effluents may result in a faster subsequent tantalum-containing film etch rate in tantalum-containing film etch processes described herein by removing tantalum oxide and exposing tantalum-containing material.

A hydrogen-containing precursor may be used during the pre-treatment and during the cycled post-treatment occurring after exposure to the chlorine-containing precursor. In both cases, the hydrogen-containing precursor may be hydrogen (H₂) in embodiments. During the post-treatment, the hydrogen-containing precursor may be flowed into the substrate processing region after the operation of flowing the chlorine-containing precursor in embodiments. Chlorine may be removed from the substrate processing region before flowing the hydrogen-containing precursor into the substrate processing region to maintain a beneficial separate between the precursors. The substrate processing region may be actively purged with a relatively inert gas before flowing the hydrogen-containing precursor or after flowing the hydrogen-containing precursor to avoid having the hydrogen-containing precursor react with the chlorine-containing precursor. Operations 1050 and 1060 may be repeated, with these precautions, between 1 and 10 times or between 2 and 7 times to remove additional material rapidly and still achieve a relatively smooth and even post-etch surface. Operations 2040 and 2050 may be repeated between 1 and 10 times or between 2 and 7 times for the same purposes. The reaction between the hydrogen-containing precursor and the chlorine-containing precursor may produce undesirable deposition and accumulation on the substrate or processing system hardware in embodiments. As a consequence, the hydrogen-containing precursor and the chlorine-containing precursor may not be in the substrate processing region at the same time according to embodiments.

In general, a halogen-containing precursor may be used in place of the chlorine-containing precursor (e.g. Cl₂) of tantalum etch processes described herein. The halogen-containing precursor may include at least one of chlorine or bromine in embodiments. The halogen-containing precursor may be a diatomic halogen, a homonuclear diatomic halogen or a heteronuclear diatomic halogen according to embodiments. In all methods described herein, the tantalum-containing material may have at least 40% atomic percent tantalum, at least 45% atomic percent tantalum, or at least 50% atomic percent tantalum in embodiments.

In embodiments, the chlorine-containing precursor (e.g. Cl₂) may be flowed into the substrate processing region at a flow rate of between 3 sccm (standard cubic centimeters per minute) and 50 sccm or between 5 sccm and 20 sccm in embodiments. The method also includes applying energy to the chlorine-containing precursor in the substrate processing region to form the biased chlorine plasma. The plasma in the substrate processing region may be generated using a variety of techniques (e.g., radio frequency excitations, capacitively-coupled power and/or inductively coupled power). In an embodiment, the energy is applied using a capacitively-coupled plasma unit. The plasma power applied to the chlorine-containing precursor may be between 25 watts and 1500 watts, between 100 watts and 1200 watts or between 150 watts and 700 watts according to embodiments. An optional sputtering component of the plasma is included to help even out the net tantalum-containing material etch rate and to hasten the chlorine reaction with the tantalum-containing material on the surface. The chlorine plasma in the substrate processing region may be referred to herein as a local plasma.

A local plasma (optionally biased) may be used to excite the hydrogen-containing precursors and the chlorine-containing precursors described herein. Alternatively, a remote plasma may be used for any of the hydrogen steps of the tantalum-containing film etch operations described. During remote plasma excitation, the substrate processing region may be devoid of plasma or “plasma-free” during the flow of the hydrogen-containing precursor of the appropriate operations. In embodiments, a plasma-free substrate processing region means there is essentially no concentration of ionized species and free electrons within the substrate processing region. Stated another way, the electron temperature in the substrate processing region may be less than 0.5 eV, less than 0.45 eV, less than 0.4 eV, or less than 0.35 eV according to embodiments. Moreover, the hydrogen-containing precursor may not have been excited in any remote plasma before entering the substrate processing region in embodiments.

In embodiments, the hydrogen-containing precursor (e.g. H₂) may be flowed into the substrate processing region at a flow rate of between 50 sccm and 2,000 sccm or between 100 sccm and 1,000 sccm in embodiments. The method includes applying energy to the hydrogen-containing precursor in the remote plasma region and/or the substrate processing region to form a hydrogen plasma. The plasma in the remote plasma region and/or the substrate processing region may be generated using a variety of techniques (e.g., radio frequency excitations, capacitively-coupled power and/or inductively coupled power). In an embodiment, the energy is applied to the substrate processing region using a capacitively-coupled plasma unit which biases ions relative to the substrate and accelerates the ions towards the substrate. The plasma power applied to the hydrogen-containing precursor in either the remote plasma region or the substrate processing region may be between 25 watts and 1500 watts, between 100 watts and 1200 watts or between 150 watts and 700 watts according to embodiments. A sputtering component of the plasma may be included to help remove tantalum oxide and chlorinate tantalum in the appropriate operations described previously. The hydrogen plasma and the biased chlorine plasma in the substrate processing regions may be referred to herein as local plasmas or bias plasmas.

During the operations of processing the tantalum oxide, the operations of flowing the halogen-containing precursor to form the tantalum halide, and/or the operation of flowing the hydrogen-containing precursor to remove the tantalum halide, the substrate may be maintained at a same substrate temperature in embodiments. During the operations of reducing the tantalum oxide, etching the tantalum-containing film or removing the chlorine residue, the substrate temperature may be between 80° C. and 450° C. in general. In embodiments, the temperature of the substrate during the operations described may be greater than 80° C., greater than 100° C., greater than 120° C., or greater than 150° C. The substrate temperatures may be less than 450° C., less than 400° C., less than 350° C., or less than 300° C. according to embodiments. In a preferred embodiments, the temperature of the substrate during operations 1050 and 2040 may be between 175° C. and 275° C. or between 200° C. and 250° C. These temperature ranges enable the volatility of tantalum, silicon, carbon and aluminum chlorine-containing complexes without “turning on” the volatility of the hafnium and oxygen chlorine-containing complexes. The pressure in the substrate processing during any or all of the steps may be below 20 Torr, and may be below 15 Torr, below 5 Torr or below 3 Torr. For example, the pressure may be between 10 mTorr and 10 Torr during processing.

Additional process parameters are disclosed in the course of describing an exemplary processing chamber and system. FIG. 3 is a partial cross sectional view showing an exemplary substrate processing chamber 3001 which may be used to perform portions of processes described herein. The various precursors (e.g. the hydrogen-containing precursors or the chlorine-containing precursor) may be introduced through one or more apertures 3051 into the remote plasma region 3065. The precursors may or may not be excited by the remote plasma power source 3046, in embodiments, as appropriate for the process operations described in detail above. RF power from the remote plasma power source 3046 may be applied between the remote electrode 3045 and the showerhead 3020 to form a remote plasma in the remote plasma region 3065. The substrate processing chamber 3001 includes the chamber body 3012 and the substrate pedestal 3010. The substrate pedestal 3010 is at least partially disposed within the chamber body 3012. The showerhead 3020 is disposed between the remote plasma region 3065 and the substrate processing region 3040. A local plasma may be formed and biased relative to the substrate 3011 by applying RF power from the local plasma power source 3048 to the showerhead 3020 relative to the substrate pedestal 3010 in embodiments.

The substrate processing chamber 3001 may include a vacuum pump 3025 and a throttle valve 3027 to regulate the flow of gases through the substrate processing chamber 3001 and the substrate processing region 3040 therein. The vacuum pump 3025 is coupled through the chamber body 3012 and in fluid communication with the interior of the substrate processing chamber 3001. The RF power, when applied between the remote electrode 3045 and the showerhead 3020, generates a plasma of reactive species in the remote plasma region 3065. The remote electrode 3045 is supported by the top plate 3050 and is electrically isolated therefrom by the electrically isolating ring(s) 3047. The substrate 3020 is supported by the showerhead flange 3022 and is electrically isolated therefrom by the showerhead isolator 3021. RF power, when applied between the showerhead 3020 and the substrate pedestal 3010, generates a plasma of reactive species in the substrate processing region 3040. The plasma in the substrate processing region 3040 may be referred to as a local plasma and may be biased to accelerate ions in the substrate processing region 3040 towards the substrate 3011 during processing.

A local plasma may be formed to excite the hydrogen-containing precursor in embodiments. Another local plasma may be formed to excite the chlorine-containing precursor according to embodiments. A remote plasma may or may not be used to further pre-excite the hydrogen-containing precursor and/or the chlorine-containing precursor in embodiments.

The substrate temperature may be controlled by applying heat to or cooling the substrate pedestal 3010. Substrate temperatures during the various operations were given previously. Flowrates of the various precursors and process pressures in the substrate processing region 3040 and the remote plasma region 3065 were given previously. Apertures in the showerhead 3020 may be large enough that the pressures in the substrate processing region 3040 and the remote plasma region 3065 may be about the same in embodiments. Plasma power (remote and local) can be supplied from the remote plasma power source 3046 and the local plasma power source 3048 at a variety of frequencies or a combination of multiple frequencies. The RF frequency applied in the exemplary processing system may be an RF frequency of 13.56 MHz but may also generate other frequencies alone or in combination with the 13.56 MHz frequency. The RF frequency applied in the exemplary processing system may be an RF frequency less than 200 kHz, an RF frequency between 5 MHz and 25 MHz, or a microwave frequency greater than 1 GHz in embodiments. The remote and/or local plasma power may be capacitively-coupled (CCP) or inductively-coupled (ICP) into the remote plasma region and/or the substrate processing region, respectively. Plasma power may also be simultaneously applied to both the remote plasma region 3065 and the substrate processing region 3040 during etching operations described herein. The frequencies and powers above apply to each region separately regardless of whether both regions contain plasma or only one region contains plasma.

A plasma may be ignited in the remote plasma region 3065 above the showerhead 3020 and/or the substrate processing region 3040 below the showerhead 3020 in embodiments. A plasma may be present in the remote plasma region 3065 to produce plasma-excited hydrogen-containing precursors from an inflow of a hydrogen-containing precursor. A local plasma has also been found to work for the pretreatment or post-treatment using a hydrogen-containing precursor. The hydrogen-containing precursor may be flowed into substrate processing region 3040 and a local plasma may be formed to perform the pretreatment or the post-treatment. The etch cycle may be performed in the same substrate processing region.

Embodiments of the processing chambers may be incorporated into larger fabrication systems for producing integrated circuit chips. FIG. 4 shows one such processing system 4001 of deposition, etching, baking, and curing chambers according to embodiments. In the figure, a pair of front opening unified pods (load lock chambers 4002) supply substrates of a variety of sizes that are received by the robotic arms 4004 and placed into a low pressure holding area 4006 before being placed into one of the substrate processing chambers 4008 a-f. A second robotic arm 4010 may be used to transport the substrate wafers from the holding area 4006 to the substrate processing chambers 4008 a-f and back. Each substrate processing chamber 4008 a-f, can be outfitted to perform a number of substrate processing operations including the dry etch processes described herein in addition to cyclical layer deposition (CLD), atomic layer deposition (ALD), chemical vapor deposition (CVD), physical vapor deposition (PVD), etch, pre-clean, degas, orientation, and other substrate processes.

As used herein “substrate” may be a support substrate with or without layers formed thereon. The patterned substrate may be an insulator or a semiconductor of a variety of doping concentrations and profiles and may, for example, be a semiconductor substrate of the type used in the manufacture of integrated circuits. Exposed “silicon” of the patterned substrate is predominantly Si but may include minority concentrations of other elemental constituents such as nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen or carbon. Exposed “tantalum” of the patterned substrate may be predominantly tantalum in some cases but may include minority concentrations of other elemental constituents such as oxygen, hydrogen and carbon. For example, “exposed tantalum-silicon-carbon-aluminum” may comprise or consist of tantalum, silicon, carbon and aluminum. Of course, “exposed tantalum” may consist of only tantalum. Exposed “silicon nitride” of the patterned substrate is predominantly Si₃N₄ but may include minority concentrations of other elemental constituents such as oxygen, hydrogen and carbon. “Exposed silicon nitride” may consist of silicon and nitrogen. Exposed “silicon oxide” of the patterned substrate is predominantly SiO₂ but may include minority concentrations of other elemental constituents such as nitrogen, hydrogen and carbon. In some embodiments, silicon oxide films etched using the methods disclosed herein consist of silicon and oxygen. “Tantalum oxide” may be predominantly tantalum and oxygen but may include minority concentrations of other elemental constituents such as nitrogen, hydrogen and carbon. Tantalum oxide may consist of tantalum and oxygen. “Tantalum-containing films” may be predominantly tantalum, silicon, aluminum and carbon but may include minority concentrations of other elemental constituents such as nitrogen and hydrogen. Tantalum-containing films may consist of tantalum, silicon, aluminum and carbon.

The term “precursor” is used to refer to any process gas which takes part in a reaction to either remove material from or deposit material onto a surface. “Plasma effluents” describe gas exiting from the chamber plasma region and entering the substrate processing region. Plasma effluents are in an “excited state” wherein at least some of the gas molecules are in vibrationally-excited, dissociated and/or ionized states. A “radical precursor” is used to describe plasma effluents (a gas in an excited state which is exiting a plasma) which participate in a reaction to either remove material from or deposit material on a surface. “Radical-chlorine” are radical precursors which contain chlorine but may contain other elemental constituents. The phrase “inert gas” refers to any gas which does not form chemical bonds when etching or being incorporated into a film. Exemplary inert gases include noble gases but may include other gases so long as no chemical bonds are formed when (typically) trace amounts are trapped in a film.

The terms “gap” and “trench” are used throughout with no implication that the etched geometry has a large horizontal aspect ratio. Viewed from above the surface, trenches may appear circular, oval, polygonal, rectangular, or a variety of other shapes. A trench may be in the shape of a moat around an island of material. The term “via” is used to refer to a low aspect ratio trench (as viewed from above) which may or may not be filled with metal to form a vertical electrical connection. As used herein, a conformal etch process refers to a generally uniform removal of material on a surface in the same shape as the surface, i.e., the surface of the etched layer and the pre-etch surface are generally parallel. A person having ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the etched interface likely cannot be 100% conformal and thus the term “generally” allows for acceptable tolerances. “Top” and “Up” will be used herein to describe portions/directions perpendicularly distal from the substrate plane and further away from the center of mass of the substrate in the perpendicular direction. “Vertical” will be used to describe items aligned in the “Up” direction towards the “Top”. Other similar terms may be used whose meanings will now be clear. The vertical memory hole may be circular as viewed from above.

In the preceding description, for the purposes of explanation, numerous details have been set forth in order to provide an understanding of various embodiments of the present technology. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art, however, that certain embodiments may be practiced without some of these details, or with additional details.

Having disclosed several embodiments, it will be recognized by those of skill in the art that various modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents may be used without departing from the spirit of the embodiments. Additionally, a number of well-known processes and elements have not been described in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present technology. Accordingly, the above description should not be taken as limiting the scope of the technology. Additionally, methods or processes may be described as sequential or in steps, but it is to be understood that the operations may be performed concurrently, or in different orders than listed.

Where a range of values is provided, it is understood that each intervening value, to the smallest fraction of the unit of the lower limit, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, between the upper and lower limits of that range is also specifically disclosed. Any narrower range between any stated values or unstated intervening values in a stated range and any other stated or intervening value in that stated range is encompassed. The upper and lower limits of those smaller ranges may independently be included or excluded in the range, and each range where either, neither, or both limits are included in the smaller ranges is also encompassed within the technology, subject to any specifically excluded limit in the stated range. Where the stated range includes one or both of the limits, ranges excluding either or both of those included limits are also included.

As used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “a precursor” includes a plurality of such precursors, and reference to “the layer” includes reference to one or more layers and equivalents thereof known to those skilled in the art, and so forth.

Also, the words “comprise(s)”, “comprising”, “contain(s)”, “containing”, “include(s)”, and “including”, when used in this specification and in the following claims, are intended to specify the presence of stated features, integers, components, or operations, but they do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, components, operations, acts, or groups. 

1. A method of etching tantalum-containing material from a substrate, the method comprising: placing the substrate into a substrate processing region, wherein the substrate comprises exposed tantalum-containing material; etching the tantalum-containing material by flowing a halogen-containing precursor into the substrate processing region while forming a halogen local plasma from the halogen-containing precursor and forming halogen-containing plasma effluents, wherein etching the tantalum-containing material further comprises accelerating the halogen-containing plasma effluents towards the substrate by biasing the halogen local plasma relative to the substrate, wherein etching the tantalum-containing material leaves a residue on a remaining portion of the substrate; removing the residue from the remaining portion of the substrate by flowing a hydrogen-containing precursor into the (same) substrate processing region while forming a hydrogen local plasma from the hydrogen-containing precursor to form hydrogen-containing plasma effluents, wherein flowing of the hydrogen-containing precursor occurs after flowing the halogen-containing precursor; and removing the substrate from the substrate processing region.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the tantalum-containing material further comprises silicon, carbon, and aluminum.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein a temperature of the substrate while removing the tantalum-containing material is between 80° C. and 450° C. while removing tantalum-containing material from the substrate.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein the substrate is maintained at a same substrate temperature while etching the tantalum-containing material and removing the residue.
 5. A method of etching tantalum-containing material from a substrate, the method comprising: placing the substrate into a first substrate processing region, wherein the substrate comprises tantalum-containing material and an overlying tantalum oxide; reducing the overlying tantalum oxide and exposing the tantalum-containing material by flowing a hydrogen-containing precursor into a first substrate processing region housing the substrate while forming a hydrogen plasma in the first substrate processing region; placing the substrate into a second substrate processing region; etching the tantalum-containing material by flowing a halogen-containing precursor into the second substrate processing region while forming a local halogen plasma from the halogen-containing precursor to form halogen-containing plasma effluents, wherein forming the local halogen plasma further comprises accelerating the halogen-containing plasma effluents towards the substrate by biasing the local halogen plasma relative to the substrate; flowing a hydrogen-containing precursor into the second substrate processing region while forming a second hydrogen plasma in the second substrate processing region, wherein flowing of the hydrogen-containing precursor occurs after flowing the halogen-containing precursor; and removing the substrate from the second substrate processing region.
 6. The method of claim 5 wherein a temperature of the substrate while removing the tantalum-containing material is between 175° C. and 275° C. while removing tantalum-containing material from the substrate.
 7. The method of claim 5 wherein the tantalum-containing material has at least 40% atomic percent tantalum.
 8. The method of claim 5 wherein the tantalum-containing material has at least 50% atomic percent tantalum.
 9. The method of claim 5 wherein the tantalum-containing material comprises tantalum, silicon, carbon and aluminum.
 10. The method of claim 5 wherein the hydrogen-containing precursor comprises H₂.
 11. The method of claim 5 wherein the halogen-containing precursor comprises at least one of chlorine or bromine.
 12. The method of claim 5 wherein the halogen-containing precursor is a homonuclear diatomic halogen.
 13. The method of claim 5 wherein the first substrate processing region and the second substrate processing region are the same substrate processing region.
 14. The method of claim 5 wherein a pressure within the first substrate processing region and the second substrate processing region is between 0.01 Torr and 10 Torr during one or more of flowing the hydrogen-containing precursor, flowing the halogen-containing precursor or flowing the hydrogen-containing precursor.
 15. The method of claim 5 wherein forming the hydrogen plasma comprises applying a local capacitive plasma RF power between a showerhead and the substrate.
 16. The method of claim 5 wherein a processing temperature of the substrate is greater than 80° C. during the etching of the tantalum-containing material.
 17. A method of etching tantalum-containing material and tantalum oxide, the method comprising: transferring a substrate into a substrate processing region, wherein the substrate comprises tantalum-containing material and a thin tantalum oxide layer thereon; removing the thin tantalum oxide layer by flowing a hydrogen-containing precursor into the substrate processing region while forming a local plasma from the hydrogen-containing precursor; etching the tantalum-containing material by flowing a chlorine-containing precursor into the substrate processing region while forming a chlorine plasma from the chlorine-containing precursor to form chlorine-containing plasma effluents, wherein etching the tantalum-containing material occurs after removing the thin tantalum oxide layer, wherein removing the tantalum-containing material leaves a residue on a post-etch surface of the tantalum-containing material; removing the chlorine-containing precursor by purging the substrate processing region with an inert gas; removing the residue from the post-etch surface by flowing a second hydrogen-containing precursor into the substrate processing region while forming a second local plasma from the second hydrogen-containing precursor; and transferring the substrate out of the substrate processing region.
 18. The method of claim 17 wherein forming a chlorine plasma comprises accelerating the chlorine-containing plasma effluents towards the substrate by biasing the chlorine plasma relative to the substrate.
 19. The method of claim 17 wherein the substrate is maintained at a same substrate temperature during the removal of the thin tantalum oxide layer and the removal of the tantalum-containing material.
 20. The method of claim 17 wherein the substrate remains inside the substrate processing region throughout the method. 